Thursday’s political round-up

August 10, 2006

Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* One of the Dems’ key Senate pick-up opportunities continues to look encouraging. In the latest Rasmussen poll, former Rhode Island Attorney General [tag]Sheldon Whitehouse[/tag] (D) leads Sen. [tag]Lincoln Chafee[/tag] (R), 44% to 38%. The six-point margin is slightly bigger than the five-point lead Whitehouse enjoyed a month ago.

* Speaking of Rhode Island, Rasmussen also reported today that incumbent Gov. [tag]Donald Carcieri[/tag] (R) is now tied with Lt. Gov. [tag]Charles Fogarty[/tag] (D) in the state’s gubernatorial race, with 43% each. A month ago, Fogarty had a one-point lead.

* Rumors were rampant in Florida that [tag]Tom Gallagher[/tag] (R), the state’s chief financial officer, would end his gubernatorial campaign and clear the way for his primary rival, state Attorney General [tag]Charlie Crist[/tag] (R), to focus on the general election. Gallagher, however, has scheduled an announcement for today to tell reporters that he isn’t going anywhere.

* In Connecticut, the Senate race will not be a four-way race, with state Rep. [tag]Diana Urban[/tag] (R) announcing yesterday that she will not run as an independent this year. Urban had explored the possibility, and told reporters that she intended to run, but recently decided she would be unable to secure enough petition signatures to qualify for the ballot.

* In Texas, two Rasmussen polls offer good news for Republicans in both of the state’s major statewide races. In the governor’s race, incumbent Gov. [tag]Rick Perry[/tag] (R) now leads a four-way race with 35% support, followed by state Comptroller [tag]Carole Keeton Strayhorn[/tag] (I), entertainer [tag]Kinky Friedman[/tag] (I), and former Rep. [tag]Chris Bell[/tag] (D), all of whom were tied at 18%. In the Senate race, incumbent Sen. [tag]Kay Bailey Hutchison[/tag] has expanded on an earlier lead and is now ahead of [tag]Barbara Ann Radnofsky[/tag] (D), 61% to 31%.

Unfortunately, I’m positive a groundswell of stupidity will result from today’s headlines and a lot of the good trending polls next week will not look so good. I’d expect the races to tighten as fear begins to kill brain cells.

  • I find it interesting that no one in the MSM seems to want to comment on the fact that Rick Perry, an incumbent Republican governor in an [unfortunately] overwhelmingly Republican state, can only generate 35% enthusiasm. Perry’s bulb is so dim that no one could rightly expect the governor himself to be embarrassed, but surely commentators ought to think his poor showing remarkable.

  • On another excellent edition of Scarborough Country, Kinky came out in favor of Joe Lieberman leaving the Democratic Party and Kinky acknowledged that liberals aren’t pro-America:

    SCARBOROUGH: Hey, Kinky, could the argument be that both parties are extreme, vote for the new independent?

    FRIEDMAN: That could certainly be. I think the mood of the country is really, really independent. I mean, I think the winds of change are really blowing right now. And all the—the way I see Lieberman, he’s very—he’s pro-America, unashamedly, and he’s pro-Israel. And these liberals are not.

    Amen, Kinky, amen!

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